The Maruaders Save Christmas
by AshNox
Summary: A snowball fight ends in tragedy, Lily agrees on a date in exchange for Sirius's private secrets and the Marauders save Christmas.
1. The Snowball Fight

**Disclaimer: This is fanfiction based on J K Rowlings books. I own nothing. Sadly.**

It was Christmas at Hogwarts. Heavy snow had fell for nearly a month and the castle looked as though it had been cast under some terrible, yet pretty, curse.

Snow drifts rose against the walls. The ground floor windows were hidden, doors half buried.

Inside, fires blazed in every hearth. The light made golden squares on the crust of the pale blue snow as Peter Pettigrew and James Potter made their way along a slippery passageway cut into thue massive drifts of snow.

As he followed his taller friend, Peter eyed the towering drifts to his left and right, muttering nervously about them collapsing and crushing him.

His friend James laughed, pointing out that he was getting face-whipped by the icy wind that blew above the trenches. He wrapped his red and gold scarf another loop around his skinny neck, as two students in green velvet cloaks hurried past, noses pointing at the ground, muttering to themselves.

Deciding that they were probably being talked about, James slipped his slender hazel wand from beneath his cloak and sent a tripping hex at the back of their heels. Peter stifled a giggle as the two snooty youths both face-slammed the frozen path.

.

Sirius and Remus were already sitting on the bank of the frozen lake. Hunched against the cold, they looked mournful. A huddle of black cloth in a pale grey world.

As James and Peter drew closer they were surprised to hear that, contrary to being sad, their two friends were sniggering like idiots.

Gesturing for Peter to follow his lead James scraped a fist full of icy snow and squashed it into a hard ball.

Grinning at Peter, he crept closer.

.

A single arm appeared from beneath Remus's cloak, snowball raised. Sirius's laughter, slightly swallowed up by the vastness of the frozen lake, grew as his head turned.

"I dare you, Potter." He hissed. "You have no idea what you are starting."

"Starting?" James asked, coolly. "You started this some days ago, Black. _I _am finishing it!" And he flung the snowball as hard as he could, at the back of Remus's head.

.

.

"_Finishing it!"_ James screeched wildly, an hour later. Arm around Sirius's neck he rammed a fist full of icy snow into his face.

"In your dreams, Prongs!" Sirius physically flung James over his shoulder, out onto the frozen lake, where he spun straight away from the bank, like an overlarge starfish.

"Mother of Merlin!" Peter shouted. "Don't move, Prongs!"

"Lie flat and keep nice and still!" Remus yelled, carefully forming a snowball to lob at him. "Spread your body weight evenly!"

"And prepare to be snowballed to death!" Sirius shrieked, as all three of them lobbed snowball after snowball and the stumbling figure on the ice.

"You cowardly bunch of cowards!" James shrieked, struggling to stand on the slippery surface, and performing a crazy dance as a volley of snowballs smacked into his face and torso.

.

There was a brittle creak, followed by a loud cracking sound, and then James plunged downwards, vanishing into the subzero darkness.


	2. Point Me

**AN: This story keeps to the cannon story line. No Marauders were harmed in the making of this story.**

Peter screamed, flinging himself at the weakened ice, which broke repeatedly into a jigsaw of thick white chunks that blocked his way. A howl from Sirius suddenly joined Peter's screams, and he too flung himself into the shallow black water.

.

"_Wands_!" Remus shouted. Aiming his own at the bank he and Sirius had been sitting on, he yelled "_Waddiwasi!"_ And was flung out across the icy water and onto the solid ice, where he dropped flat on his stomach and clawed his way as quickly as possible to the point where James had vanished and the freezing water slopped wetly out onto the ice.

.

Sirius didn't know the spell Remus had used, and although desperate to help he couldn't think of a single thing to do that would do more than break more ice, and endanger Remus as well. Beside him Peter pointed his wand at the lake and shouted "_Accio James Potter_!" again and again.

.

"_Lumos_!" Remus plunged his glowing wand and forearm into the darkness beneath him. The cold ached through to his bones. His muscles forced tight, his hand numb. He too cast "_Accio James Potter_!" into the inky blackness, but nothing happened. The water swirled, an eerie lifeless grey in the light of his Lumos charm.

.

With a calmness that Sirius didn't realize he possessed, he shouted for Remus to keep perfectly still, and turned back to the castle. Tears hampering his view he sprinted back through the maze of channels cut in the snow, screaming for teachers and help.

.

.

Afterwards, lying with his face turned to the wall, in the hospital wing, Sirius thought about what he'd done.

His mind tried to make him think about the moments before James had vanished. That he had been screeching for them to stop throwing the snowballs. Laughing. His hands both up to protect his face. The noise of the ice cracking. The sudden way that he had sunk into the ground and vanished. The absoluteness of it. The cold.

.

Sirius couldn't think about it. He thought about the moment when he had known. The moment when he had known it had been too long and he had suddenly realized that James was not coming back up alive. His world started to collapse. But instead of ending, it had shrunk. Like a bubble popping, James had gone. Sirius alive, back above the ice, saw that Remus still frantically searching the darkness beneath the shell of ice, was about to follow James to his death.

.

He had shouted for Remus to stop trying, to keep still until help arrived. _He _had told them to stop trying. His mind teased him with dreams of James floating in the aching cold, still alive, hearing Sirius scream somewhere above him for Remus to stop trying. He lent out of the bed and wretched emptily into the bucket by his side.

.

"Sirius!" Peter's voice was sharp, frightened. "Sirius! Wake up!" He didn't want to be with Peter but he wanted to be in his dreams even less.

He lurched upwards, gasping for air and blinking at the dim outline of the school infirmary, making out Peter's pale face and Remus, hovering by his bedside.

_Remus._ Sirius did want Remus. Remus was calm and sensible when Sirius spiraled out of control. But when Sirius reached out for him, Remus pushed him away, making a fresh surge of misery erupt in his chest.

James was gone. This was real. Remus had his own misery and didn't want to soak up the out pouring of Sirius's broken heart. How could this be real? James had to be alright. Dorea would die. Did she even know? Had Sirius killed him? He had thrown James out onto the ice. Had he even remembered to tell anyone that? Had he killed James?

.

"Sirius!" Peter's voice demanded. "Sirius! Look!" But Sirius didn't look. He burst into tears, falling against Remus and holding him so hard he couldn't shove him away.

.

"Pull it together, Sirius." Peter was begging, hopping about like a scalded House Elf.

Watching him suddenly seemed very funny and Sirius's sobs broke into manic laughter. Frightened that this would make Remus let go of him, he grabbed him harder, and was crying again before he knew it.

.

"_Sirius_!" Peter said. A hard fist connected with his nose, killing his sobs. "Sirius, look!" Peter begged him. "Look..." He placed his wand flat on his own palm and commanded "Point me, _James Potter!_" The wand swung like a compass, turning clockwise to point somewhere just off from the nearest window.

.

"It's not pointing at the lake." Remus said, quietly. Sirius realized he was still crushing him, and let go, looking at the wand trembling fixedly on Peter's outstretched hand. "But I don't think it means anything, Sirius."

.

"Is he still in the lake?" Sirius said. It sounded worse out of his mouth than it did in his head. He could see James hanging in the black water, hair swirling, glasses slipped. He kept his eyes very open, focusing on Remus's pale face and Peter's trembling hand.

"I think so." Remus said, finally. "I don't think the teachers have got him out."

"Why?" Sirius asked. He sounded like a child, lost and confused. "Why is the wand pointing over there?" He added, sending his finger in the same direction.

"I don't know." Remus told him, gently. "I think... There are strong currents in the lake. And the giant squid... Something could have moved him. It's a big lake."

"The lake doesn't curve right around the castle." Peter pointed out, determinedly.

"No." Remus agreed.

"_So_?" Sirius asked, looking to Remus with desperate optimism. "So? What does it mean?"


	3. Bringing Him Home

"So..." Remus's eyes dropped slightly, but only for a moment, before he took Sirius's hand gingerly in his own. "So, it's likely that the current or the squid dragged the body away." He said, gently. "If the teachers couldn't get it out. Maybe... There are Thestral's in the woods, Sirius, and other starving creatures."

His hand yanked free of Remus's, of its own accord. "I'm sorry." Remus said, just as calmly. "But it doesn't matter. Nothing can hurt him, Pads. He's safe now."

"_Shut up_." Sirius warned him. "_Shut up or I'm going to hit you_."

Remus did shut up. He stepped back a couple of paces and looked at the floor. His breath warm and misty in the freezing room. "Sirius?" Peter asked, quietly. His hand was still up. The wand was still pointing at the window. "What if he's alright, somehow?" He asked. "He might need us to help him."

"_Peter_." Remus warned him.

"But he might have saved himself." Peter said, slightly desperately. "James can do anything."

"Get warm clothes." Sirius decided, snapping back into life.

"No." Remus tried to catch his arm and got knocked roughly aside. "Sirius, please. Peter. James is dead. You could die as well, going out in that weather."

"Get warm clothes." Sirius said again, drowning him out. "I'll get brooms."

.

"Sirius." Remus tried again. Knowing the consequences of his actions, he put himself between Sirius and the infirmary door and looked him in the eye. "He is dead." He stated, firmly. "You saw him die." It sounded a lot like 'you killed him' to Sirius's ears. His lips shaped words that didn't come out. His hands clenched fists, but when he spoke the words came out alright.

"I'm not going because I think he's alive." He said. "I'm going to bring him home. For his parents. For me. Because he is a Marauder.

"I'll get my cloak." Remus said, and let him through the door.

.

Outside the night was pitch black. There were shards of ice in the air, blowing up from the tops of drifts and falling out of the empty sky. The cold burnt their skin, as the three wizards followed a cut out trench towards the edge of the Dark Forest.

"_Point me, James Potter_!" Peter shouted into the wind. The wand swung on his palm, directing them not into the forest but along the strip of land between the lake and the trees.

"Now we fly." Sirius said, straddling his broom, and rising into the gale. Silently his two friends mounted their own brooms and took off behind him. The freezing weather bit into their skin, and ripped at their cloaks and robes. Even gloved, their hands ached where they held the brooms. Fast, they flew the length of the lake, until they reached the river that fed into it, and Sirius again dropped down into the thick snow, and Peter again cast the Point me charm, which gave no clue of distance and only pointed them onwards, away from the lake and the Dark Forest and off across a vast blanket of snow, devoid of anything but the occasional gnarled black tree.

.

"Muggles!" Peter yelled, swooping down and dropping off into the snow, to his waist.

"It's not Hogsmeade!" Sirius said. They'd flown in the opposite direction.

"_Point me, James Potter_!" Peter cried, watching the wand swing, sending them westward, towards the little cluster of Muggle buildings.


	4. James

The snow was thick to walk through, harder than wading through deep water. Their cloaks and robes were quickly soaked. In their boots their toes ached with the cold.

It was smaller than Hogsmeade. Just a scattering of houses, a single pub, windows bright with electric lights, a sign, depicting a red lion, knocking back and forth in the gale.

"Point me James Potter!" Peter held up the wand and it swung round, pointing into the streets. The three wizards followed its direction across trodden snow, past a buried park, until the wand pointed directly at the wall of a squat stone building. "Point me, James Potter!" Peter said again. The wand trembled, keeping its direction steady.

Taking a deep breath Sirius moved ahead, following the side of the building to find a door. "With me." He said, waiting for Remus to roll the three brooms in James's invisibility cloak and set them against the wall. Wands out, they approached.

"_Alohomora_!" Sirius's charm forced the lock and the door swung open, blinding them with halogen lights that buzzed and flickered as the wizards stepped inside.

"_Confunus_!" Remus spotted a woman, sitting at a desk, and hit her with the memory knocking charm, before moving into the room behind her, to check it was empty.

Peter put his wand back on his palm, and commanded it to point them again to James. There was no need. The building was small, but they all waited, frightened now of what they might find. With heavy feet they followed the wand into a long dimly lit room full of beds. It looked more like ward than a morgue.

In each of the beds, tucked up as if they were sleeping, were small still bodies. Knowing none of them had the stomach to check each bed, one after another, Sirius let Peter step ahead, using the wand to point him towards the correct figure.

He could see the mop of black hair on the pillow as he crept closer, soaked boots squelching on the shiny Muggle floor. Lowering his wand Sirius hovered over the bed, before sinking down and putting his arms around James's shoulders, pressing his face into the familiar black hair.

With a yelp Sirius leapt back to his feet, clutching Peter's arm and then ripping the blankets up off the bed. James nearly jumped out of his skin, snatching blindly for his sheets and then fumbling for his glasses, almost getting them to his face before Sirius flung him back onto the bed, crushing him in a wet icy embrace.


	5. It takes more than a Giant Squid

"For the love of Merlin!" James shoved him off. "You're freezing and mad! Get off me you idiot!"

"_No!_" Sirius sobbed, from somewhere against his chest. Peter and Remus both stared, astonished, thrilled.

"Ha!" James said, catching on Remus's expression. "You all thought I was dead! Didn't you?!"

"_You're alive?_" Remus whispered, and then more brightly, "You're alive! _Silencio_!" He added, zapping the beds where other bodies had started to stir. "_Muffalato!_"

"_I knew you were alive_!" Peter shouted, jumping up and down. "I knew it! James! I knew it!"

"_How_?" Remus marveled.

"Well, it's actually a brilliant and exciting story... Get off, you dolt!" James added, giving Sirius another shove. He tugged his arm free, but instead of ridding himself of Sirius he suddenly found his other two friends also flinging themselves into his arms.

.

"Good grief! You lot have issues!" James scolded them, struggling free and pausing to laugh at Sirius's face. "It takes more than immersion in frozen water and a giant squid to kill James Potter. Have you no faith?"

"We thought you were _dead_." Remus said, slightly sharply this time.

"I've been 'alive' for less than a minute and you're already telling me off." James pointed out. "Is Lily alright? Is she devastated?"

"I don't know." Remus admitted, glancing at Sirius and then Peter.

"Probably." Peter said. "But we don't know."

"We have to tell your mum you're alive." Sirius stood up finally. "At once."

.

"Yes, that is true. My poor mum." James agreed. "And Lily. She might be so relieved she'll agree to go out with me. That should come first but then I'll tell you about my miraculous escape. How I survived, plunging through the frozen ice, your fault Pads, got dragged half way across the lake by the squid and launched onto a beach, half drowned and frozen, only to be rescued by loveable Muggles, and brought here. It's like a tiny St. Mungos for Muggles. Is it not adorable?"

.

"We should get out of here." Remus pointed out.

"And I've slightly told you the whole story." James said, catching Sirius's arm, and following Remus to the door. "Never mind, I'll tell it all over again, as many times as you want. Have you got any news, apart from what a bunch of pessimistic wimps you all are, because I already knew that."

"Nope." Peter said, happily. "And _I_ knew you'd survive. _I knew it_."

"Thanks for the vote of faith Padfoot, Moony." James said, shivering as Remus opened the door and a frozen gale blasted in at them.

.

Sirius took off his thick cloak and passed it over. "I'll be fine." He said. "You're alive. The cold simply cannot hurt me tonight."

"Idiot!" James scoffed, buckling the cloak over his skinny shoulders.

"You can take my broom." Remus offered. "This whole village is completely snowed-in, and we're miles from Hogwarts."

"Sit on Sirius's lap and you can share your cloak with him." James suggested, grinning brightly. Sirius sighed heavily.

"It is so good to have you back." He said. "Nothing you say can wind me up tonight."

"We'll see about that!" James assured him, swung his leg over the broom and sent it soaring up into the icy air. "To Hogwarts!" He shouted. "And to Lily!"


	6. In the Common Room

Lily Evans looked tired. There were dark shadows beneath her green eyes, and her skin was paler than usual. She had a book and parchment in front of her but she hadn't looked at either of them for as long as the boys had been watching her.

.

James's eyes sparkled and he adjusted the invisibility cloak carefully. "Moony." He hissed. "You go and talk to her. Make out you're really sad about me being dead."

"I'm not doing that!" Remus whispered back. "For goodness sake, James!"

"Fine. You do it, Peter." James said, flashing Remus a look.

.

Peter slipped out from under the cloak, crossed the room and slumped at the table. He put his head in his hands and letting out a wail. "_I'm so sad_!" He proclaimed, faking something close to hysterics. Lily dropped her quill in alarm.

"Peter?" She put a tentative arm on his small shuddering shoulder.

"Not 'Pettigrew'." James whispered to Sirius and Remus.

"She likes us all better, now you're dead." Remus whispered back. Sirius thumped Remus who gave him a reproachful look to which Sirius only raised his eyebrows, pointedly.

.

"_I can't bare it_!" Peter sobbed. "_James was the best friend ever! I can't believe he's dead! He didn't deserve to die, Lily! He deserved to live!_"

"I know." Lily assured him. "Peter. I know. I'm so sorry! It's so awful!" Peter covered his tearless eyes with both his hands and Lily wrapped him fiercely in her arms, mashing his face into her chest.

"For Gods' sake!" James cursed.

.

"That might make him feel better?" Remus suggested. "He _has_ just lost his soul-mate."

"Do something, Moony." James demanded, giving him a shove. "Go and hug Peter."

"No." Remus assured him. "I'm not pretending your dead. You're sick, James."

"Fine." Sirius said, shoving the cloak off and walking across the quiet Common room. "I'll do it."

.

"Get your face out of Evans's chest, Peter." He said, quietly, yanking Peter into his own arms and crushing him, _hard_. "There, there." He said, stoically.

"I'm really sorry, Sirius." Lily said, her voice trembling and her big green eyes filling with shimmering tears. "I am. It's so awful."

"I know you didn't think much of him." Sirius said. "But he loved you so much, Evans."

"I wish I'd been nicer to him." Lily said, and then she too gave a little sob. Sirius gritted his teeth and glanced back at the corner where he didn't doubt James was giving him a cheery thumbs up and Remus was hating him.

"You were nice enough." He said, to Lily. "You didn't like him. At least you never led him on or gave him false hope."

"He was nice." Lily sobbed. She flung her arms around Sirius and pressed her face into his neck. "I wish I'd been nicer to him."

"_If only we all had another chance to be nice to him_!" Peter said, finally throwing Sirius off him and rubbing his crushed arms. "_If only the giant squid could have saved him and flung him out on some unknown shore!_"

"That is possible." Sirius said.

"Oh God, Sirius, I really think it isn't." Lily said, and then she flung her arms back around him and kissed his thick dark hair, repeatedly.

.

"…Really." Remus mused. "You should be glad it's not me. Because Lily thinks Peter and Sirius are jerks and she's all over them. Think what she'd have been like if I'd gone in their crying for you."

"Shut up, Remus." James warned him.

"I think I'd have got some action." Remus added, quietly.

"You'll get some 'my fist in your face' action, in a minute." James assured him.

"I think Sirius might get some in a minute." Remus added.

.

Lily was sobbing into Sirius's neck and if she was still talking about James neither of them could hear what she was saying.

James took off the cloak and Sirius rolled his eyes at him, gesturing for him to hide again, and pulling Lily firmly out of his arms.

.

"_We have to go and talk to James's parents!_" Peter wailed. "_Tell them how great he was_!"

"_Oh God_!" Lily said, covering her mouth and clutching Sirius's arm.

"_I don't think I can do it_!" Peter added. "_You'll have to do it on your own, Sirius! All on your own, sorry! You knew them better anyway_!"

He thumped Sirius's arm as hard as he could before rushing back round the corner, stopping short of the Portrait Hole and feeling for James and Remus under the cloak.

.

"Isn't it time you showed up alive again?" He asked James.

"Before she makes Sirius feel a bit too much better!" Remus snorted.

"Shut up!" James warned him, scowling back at where Sirius did look like he was now mostly fending Lily off as she tried to console him. "She isn't going to kiss him, is she?" He added, sounding uncertain and deeply troubled.

"Oh, for God's sake, James!" Remus groaned. "Fine. I'll do it!" He stalked round the corner and into the room.


	7. Unbelievably Good News

Lily leapt out of the chair as soon as she saw him, snatching his arm and all but dragging him over and flinging him into Sirius's arms. "He's really upset!" She told him. "Peter's too upset to do anything! He's breaking his heart!"

"Don't worry." Remus said, prizing himself back off Sirius's chest. "I have some _unbelievably_ good news."

"What is it?" Lily asked, shoving him back into Sirius's arms again. "_Hug him_!" She added, seeing he'd stood up again. "He's _devastated_, Remus!"

"I am hugging him." Remus said, flinging his arm back around Sirius's broad shoulders. "I think James might be alright."

"_What_?!" Lily gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. Sirius, unable to fake a suitable response, kept his face buried in Remus's shirt. "_No_!" Lily clutched both their arms, frantically. "_What? How? What do you mean_?"

"I think he might be fine." Remus said. "Obviously, we had no idea." He added through gritted teeth.

.

"James is _fine_!?" Lily's voice sharpened, slightly hysterically. "_He's not... He's fine_!?" Remus grimaced as Sirius's embrace hardened into something rather painful.

"No! No he's not 'fine'!" Remus said, wincing as Sirius's squashed him, on purpose. "He is alive, just barely alive. Rescued… He rescued himself, against the odds." He breathed again as Sirius stopped trying to crush him.

.

"_James is alright_?" Lily clarified, her voice shaking, her face pale. Remus nodded.

"I think he's on his own in the hospital wing." He added.

.

"_Sirius! Get up_!" Lily screeched, ripping at his sleeve. "_He's alright! Oh, God! Thank God! Sirius, get up_!"

"He's too upset to move yet." Remus said, failing to sound like anything but a deeply pained liar. "I'll stay with him. Could you maybe check James is really alright? He might have frost bite or something."

"_Does that matter_?" Lily shrieked.

"Please." Remus winced.

"_Right! Of course!... He's alright_?!" And she flung herself out of the room.

.

...

.

"You hurt me, you git!"Remus snapped, thumping Sirius as he got up. "And you're all despicable. Did you see how upset she was?"

"That is a good thing, Moony." Sirius sighed. "Even James can't cock it up now."

"I bet he can." Remus said, frowning at his reflection in the dark window as he straightened his shirt. "Shall we go and see?"

"Yes." Sirius said, without getting up. "I'm just, I am really just so glad that he's alright." He admitted, sounding rather overwhelmed.

"I'd hug you but you'd probably try and hurt me again." Remus said, tartly.

"I wouldn't." Sirius said and scowled when Remus laughed at him. "And you were going to mess it up for James."

"He's spent all day pretending he's still dead, to make Lily feel sorry for him!" Remus said. "He doesn't deserve any of us helping him with this."

"Yes, he does." Sirius said, pulling himself up. "You're a rubbish friend, Remus. Come on, let's go see how it's going."

.

...

.

"_Sirius_!" Lily flung herself off the bed, rushing to snatch his arm. "_Sirius! He's alive! He's fine!_" She dragged him back to the bed where Sirius and James embraced.

.

"I'm _so_ glad you turned up." James hissed crossly in his ear.

"I'm just glad you're alive, Prongs." Sirius assured him. "You have no idea."  
"_I have an idea you're about to mess up the best chance I've ever had with Lily_." James hissed in his ear, before releasing him. "_Piss off and take Moody with you._"

.

"I'd better go." Lily announced, hovering awkwardly. "I'm so glad you're alright, James."

"No! No, don't go!" James shoved Sirius off the bed, as hard as he could. "Lily! Sirius is going! Remus wants to do something private and special with him!"

"I'm sure I do. But nothing is more important than seeing you recovered." Remus said, firmly. "This is just _too much_, James. We're all so overwhelmed."

.

"I should leave you with your friends." Lily said, going back to James's bedside. "You must be so tired." She gently touching the swirl of bandage James's had wrapped around his head. "You're being so strong."

"But I want you to stay, Lily." James said, weakly. "I was thinking about you, when I thought I was going to die. Your presence in my mind made me feel happy."

"You were thinking about me?" Lily said.

"I was thinking about all the times I'd tried to ask you out." James said sadly. "Just wishing I'd managed to say it better. Wishing I'd found some way to make you realize how genuine I was. Wishing I hadn't messed it up _so badly_."

"And _so often_." Remus offered. James ignored him, although his hazel eyes narrowed, behind his glasses.

.

"I wish I'd done it better." He said simply.

"I thought you were being insincere." Lily admitted. "It looked an awful lot like you were laughing at me."

"I wanted you to laugh with me." James said. He got a better grip on her hand to haul her back over to the bed.


	8. Private and Special

"Moony, we should go and do that thing." Sirius suggested, watching James catching Lily's left hand in his bandaged right one.

"Really? 'Private and special'?" Remus repeated James's words. "And James can still cock this up. It's what he does."

"No. He can't." Sirius said. "He doesn't need an audience."

"In James Potter World it doesn't count if there isn't an audience." Remus said. "And he's going to cock it up. Just watch, Pads."

"The only person in danger of cocking this up is you, Remus." Sirius warned him.

.

"…You were being genuine?" Lily asked. "But you were always laughing at me."

"I was hiding my insecurities." James said.

"Very, _very_ well." Remus muttered.

"I am the most genuine person I know." James added.

"Aside from the current situation which is… Ow!" Remus rubbed his side, glaring at Sirius who gestured to the door again.

"…You don't have to agree to marry me and have my children. If we could just go to Hogsmeade some time."

.

"I _will_ do something 'private and special' with you, if you don't get out of this room, Remus." Sirius hissed. "And I don't mean that in a good way." Remus snorted with laughter and Lily and James both swung round. Lily, mildly surprised they were still there, and James with a glare that would probably hurt like the Cruciatus Curse if he was better at Occlumancy.

.

"We're going to do private special things, right now." Sirius assured James earnestly.

"No, don't worry, I'll go. I'll leave you 'Marauders' together." Lily said, pulling her hand free of James's grip.

"They are going away!" James said, crossly. "I'll be all on my own if you go, Lily!"

"Just as you deserve." Remus muttered, swinging clear of another elbow in the ribs from Sirius.

.

"We _do_ have to go." Sirius said, just as earnestly.

"You are a lovely friend, Sirius." Lily assured him, smiling finally at Sirius. "But I am not an absolute moron."

"Sirius has special things to do with Moony!" James said, bouncing about in the bed in his agitation. "Go _away_ Sirius!"

"What special things?" Lily asked. James paused in his bouncing, pushing his glasses up his nose as he tried to think. Lily smiled at all of them. "I know you were just making your excuses, but you are his friends. You should be here with James. Not me."

"_No_!" James said. "_No_! They do have something to do! They do! Something… private and special. But they can't say because of the private nature of it."

"Is it 'romantic'?" Lily suggested, green eyes twinkling as she glanced between James's friends.

"No." Sirius said, evenly. "It's not."

"Elaborate then." Lily suggested.

.

"It's private." Remus said finally, his voice laden with bile. "So we can't say. It is obviously very special because it is _more important_ than spending time with James who has returned to us from the dead. It's _that_ special."

"That's the truth." James said. "It's that special. And I don't want to lie here on my own, thinking about nearly dying. I got dragged through the icy water, by the giant squid, and thrown, many miles, to die on a frozen beach."

"That is horrific." Lily admitted going back to his bedside.

"Could I, maybe, have a tiny drink of water?" James asked, weakly.

"Of course." Lily said, and she ran her fingers through his messy black hair again as she stood up to get it. James watched her cross the room before flinging himself out of the bed and snatching Remus up by the front of his robes.


	9. Thin Ice

"Get out of this room!" He hissed, violently. "Get out! You spiteful, no good, excuse for a friend!"

"You're pretending you're still at deaths door to make Lily, who is also my friend, go out with you." Remus said, without trying to remove James's fist from his clothes.

"And it is _working_." James hissed. "So get out!"

"We are." Sirius promised.

"Good." James released Remus and scrambled back into the bed, straightening the bandage he'd wrapped around his forehead.

"We have to go." Sirius said, as Lily stepped back into the room with a goblet of water.

"For 'Secret Private things'?" Lily asked, using her wand to levitate the drink across the ward to James's bedside.

"Yes." Sirius shrugged, in a way that suggested he'd agree to anything so long as she moved out of the doorway and back to James's bedside. Lily turned her grin on Remus.

"How 'Private' are the 'Secret things'?" She asked.

"James looks at deaths door." Sirius offered helpfully.

"I'll go to Hogsmead with him, if you tell me." Lily offered.

"I'll tell you!" James shouted over at them. "I'll tell you all the Secret Private things they do!"

"We don't _do_ any Secret Private things!" Remus shouted back at him. "And if we did, you wouldn't know! Because they would be _Secret_! And you wouldn't tell because they would be _Private_!"

"_I'll tell you Lily_." James promised, ignoring Remus entirely.

"You are the worst friend _ever_, James." Lily assured him.

"_Remus_ is the worst friend ever." James said, petulantly. "And I have suddenly remembered all sorts of Private Secret things that he does, that I can tell you about."

"Make up what you want about me, James." Remus said. "But you are treading on very thin ice."

"That is a _horrible_ choice of words." James assured him with a mock shiver, which brought Lily back to his bedside.

"Sorry." Remus sighed. "Feel free to make up whatever you want."

"I will." James assured him.

"Although I did say," Lily pointed out. "That I'd go to Hogsmeade with James, if _you_ told me."

"You deserve each other." Remus told her.

"I'll tell you what we're doing." Sirius said. "If you go to Hogsmeade with James."

"If you make it good." Lily smirked.

"I'll tell you the truth." Sirius said.

"Because one of you three understands what that is?" Lily scoffed. "Alright. I'm listening."


	10. The Plan

"The Secret Private thing we're doing…" Sirius said, slowly and carefully. "…Is to do with James's miraculous survival."

"It has to be _so embarrassing_ that you both blush scarlet when I tell the rest of the school."

"It's not embarrassing." Sirius said. "It's secret."

"And private." Lily reminded him, firmly.

.

"The only reason James survived." Sirius told her. "Is because he was taken to a Muggle hospital. It's about four miles from here and snowed-in. There's no likelihood of the weather improving before Christmas, so we are going to take provisions and toys for the Muggle children, to thank them for saving James."

.

"…What?" James asked.

"Are you serious?" Lily asked him. Sirius smiled.

"I am always Sirius." He reminded her. "So, that is what we are doing. Will you stay with James and keep him company while we work on our plan?"

"Yes." Lily said. "Sirius… That's _lovely._"

"I am always lovely, as well." He reminded her.

"No, mostly you're a git." Lily said, her grin back. "Just occasionally you're lovely."

"Look after James for us." Sirius told her and escorted Remus from the room.

.

"Right!" Sirius shook out a parchment and thrust it into Remus's arms. "Ink, Peter!" He ordered. "And a quill."

"I have my own quill." Remus assured him. "What am I writing?"

"My plan." Sirius told him, lying on his bed and crossing his legs as he pondered the red canopy above him.

.

"You're actually going to take supplies to a Muggle hospital?"

"Yes." Sirius said. "But the supplies are just extra. We are going to take '_Christmas_' to the hospital, to all those little children."

"You really are unimaginably wet." Remus assured him. "Did you buy your reputation with your family's vaults of gold?"

"I have a well-deserved reputation for my greatness." Sirius said.

"Of course you do." Remus scoffed.

"Shallow." Peter offered. "Vain. Insincere. Arrogant."

"A show off." Remus added.

"Childish. Easily angered." Peter went on. "Girl mad."

"Name one." Sirius said.

"Too many to name." Peter grinned at him. "Unable to hold down a girlfriend for more than five seconds."

"Stupid." Remus said. "And crazy."

.

"Finished?" Sirius asked.

"Yes." They both nodded.

"Ashamed?" He asked.

"Little bit." Remus admitted.

.

"So." Sirius pressed on. "The plan…"


	11. Orange Fruit and Vegtables

"We have to get lots of presents. The sort that little Muggle children will like, and fly down the chimney on Christmas Eve."

"Run that last bit past me again." Remus suggested, putting the quill down. Sirius gave him a reproachful look.

"Fly down the chimney." He repeated. "With the presents."

.

"Was there a chimney at the hospital?" Peter asked.

"There was a flat roof." Remus volunteered. "For you to land your sleigh on, Sirius."

"There is no need to sledge." Sirius said, firmly. "Maybe we can get the hospital connected to the flu network, and then it will be perfect."

"Because Father Christmas always comes by flu?" Remus asked.

"That is a possibility?" Peter suggested, thinking about it. "It is just magic how he gets to all the little children's houses in one night. I think it might be Dumbledore."

"I think it might be Sirius." Remus laughed.

.

"We're going to do it properly." Sirius interrupted them, firmly. "And it will be perfect."

"How?" Remus asked, straightening his face. "How are we going to make it perfect, Sirius?"

"We are." Sirius said. "Write down, Remus, 'find out what sort of presents little Muggle children like'."

.

"Father Christmas always used to give me little wooden animals that ran around and ate jelly beans." Peter offered. "Would that be too Wizardy for them? If I sent an owl tonight, my mum would probably send the spell by tomorrow."

"I think they like computer games." Sirius said, frowning at the roof of his four poster.

"Do you know how to make computer games, Sirius?" Peter asked him.

"Muggles will love living wooden animals." Remus said, writing it down.

"And satsumas." Sirius said. "And carrots."

"How rubbish were your Christmas's, Sirius?" Peter laughed. "Was your stocking entirely filled with orange fruit and vegetables? Did you get little pumpkins and sweet potatoes, as well?" Remus sat up, considering Sirius thoughtfully.

"What were the carrots for, Pads?" He asked.

"…What do you mean?" Sirius sat up as well, frowning across the dorm at him. "…There were carrots. You have carrots at Christmas… And satsumas, which are little oranges."

.

"…You think we should come down the chimney." Remus wrote down. "If there is one. Maybe it would be cool to land on the roof?"

"You're both freaks." Peter assured him. "You're going to terrify the staff."

"Some sort of calming spell." Remus dually noted.

"Firewiskey." Peter said. "Are you going to dress up, Sirius?"

"Shut up, Peter." Remus said, flashing him a sneer. Peter ignored it rolling back onto his bed.

"We're all going." Sirius said. "We're going to be taking lots of presents…" He trailed off as a quiet hand tapped on the door.


	12. Coal

"How are you getting on with the 'secret private' things?" Lily asked.

"Fine. Why aren't you looking after James?" Sirius said, irritated.

"Because he's asleep." Lily told him. "And he keeps muttering my name and chuckling in his dreams, not that that's creepy, or anything."

"We have to listen to it every night." Remus said, rolling off the bed. "Lily, why don't you take Peter down to dinner?"

"I've come to help." Lily said. "I still think you're amazing and lovely, Sirius."

"He has a stupendous plan, Lily." Peter sniggered. "He's going to fly down the chimney, drug the staff and fill the kids stockings with assorted fruit and vegetables."

.

Lily grinned at them, uncertainly and Peter laughed again.

"Shut up, Peter." Sirius snapped. "We're going to land on the flat roof." He told Lily, sweeping his black hair off his face. "On a sledge, maybe." He glanced at Remus and his list.

"And give the children presents." Remus backed him up.

.

"Are you going to dress up, Sirius?" Lily asked.

"I might." Sirius shrugged.

"As _what_?!" Peter sniggered, eyes lighting up with cruel amusement as he realized just how little Sirius's knew about Christmas.

.

"I think you'd make a delightful Santa." Lily assured him. "Who wouldn't want to sit on your lap, Sirius?"

"Children?" Peter suggested.

"We're just going to take them presents and supplies." Sirius said. "Because they're snowed-in and they saved James. The House Elves will make food."

"Especially carrots!" Peter said, with a snort. Lily looked at him "We have to take carrots, as they are most important to Christmas, aren't they, Sirius?" Sirius didn't say anything and Lily looked across at each of the three boys in turn. "I think Sirius was the little boy that Santa Claus forgot!" Peter added, choking on his laughter.

.

"Get a life, Peter." Remus snapped. Lily stopped laughing, looking round at him, in surprise.

"Seriously?" She asked. "You mean… What do you mean?"

"The Ancient and Ignoble House of Black is full of very dark wizards." Peter pointed out. "If Sirius and little Reggie had put their stocking out I think they would have been filled with coal."

"Knowing your mother, Sirius, they probably would have been." James said, watching them all from the doorway, the bandage slipped from his pretend head-wound and a rather smug smile on his face. "Are you still planning your Christmas surprise?"  
"No, we're all laughing at Sirius." Peter said, beckoning him in. "Join us, its fun."


	13. Father Christmas

"What are you doing that's so funny, Padfoot?" James asked, crossing the room to sit carefully next to Lily. He smiled at Sirius's silence.

"God, you lot are mean!" Lily scolded them. "Sirius, are your family just too Wizardy for a traditional Muggle Christmas?"

"Please, tell us what you're planning to do with the carrots." James interrupted her.

"You bend over and I'll show you." Sirius said, crossly. James laughed.

"I haven't got a clue either, Messr. Padfoot." He assured him, "Maybe they're for making snowmen? For their noses, or something."

.

"Are you both serious?" Lily asked.

"They _really are_." Peter assured her.

"They're for the reindeers to eat!" Lily said. "Oh my God, James! You put the carrots out for the reindeers to eat! And milk and a mince pie for Father Christmas!"

"And hang your stockings by the chimney with care." Peter said, trying hard to stop laughing.

.

"There are deers?" James asked.

"Nine." Lily said. "Dasher, Dancer, Vixen, Prancer, Commet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and Rudolph."

"Are they real?" Sirius asked. Lily looked at him, a smile playing around her lips. "The deers." Sirius clarified.

"Well… They can fly." Lily said. "If that helps you draw your own conclusions."

"I can fly." Sirius pointed out. "There are _nine_ deers?"

"I want to know what Sirius thinks happens at Christmas." Peter begged.

"Because you're mean." Lily told him. "Sirius, yes, there are nine deers and they pull a sleigh for Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus and St. Nic. The sleigh is filled with presents and he flies around the whole world on Christmas Eve filling the stockings of all good little girls and boys with treats."

"Or fruit and veg." Peter said. "If you're Sirius."

"Sirius was a _really naughty child_." James pointed out.

.

"And did you leave out carrots, milk and a meat pie, Lily?" Sirius asked.

"Every year." Lily assured him. "Me and my sister, and hung our stockings up before we went to bed. And in the morning the stockings were full of presents and the _mince_ pie had a big bite out of it, the milk was half drunk and there were just carrot ends left behind."

"By Dumbledore, in red and white." Peter added, helpfully.

"A flat roof for that reindeer sleigh?" Sirius asked Remus. "You know where we could get a reindeer from, don't you?"

"I certainly do." Remus agreed. "And I bet I could find a spell to make him fly."

.

"You're going to make a reindeer fly?" Lily asked,

"For the little children." Sirius said.

"Can we ask the House Elves to dress up as Santa's Little Helpers?" Lily asked, excitedly.

"Peter can be a Christmas Elf." Remus said. "He's stumpy enough." Sirius looked at Remus uneasily.

"You aren't going to be that horrible thing, are you?" He asked. Remus forced a smile.

"'That horrible thing'?" He said. "You know it's a new moon on Christmas eve, don't you?"

"Of course. No. I meant that demon monster thing." Sirius said, at once. "With the sack and the very long tongue."

"Oh my God, House of Black Christmas has just become better than Muggle Christmas!" Peter exploded. "Please, please explain that one, Sirius. Just, _please._"


	14. Krampus

.

Sirius glared at him, silver eyes narrowed, colour rising on his pale cheeks. "There _is _a thing." He said, folding his arms rather defiantly. "There is a thing that comes with Father Christmas and he has a black face and horns and a very long tongue."

"Your mother deserves some sort of parenting award." Peter told him. "What does Santa's friend do, Sirius?"

"He eats children." Sirius said. Peter rolled off the bed, clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard.

.

"Your mother didn't really tell you that, did she?" Lily asked, rather troubled. "Sirius?"

"I've seen it in books as well." Sirius said. "It's not made up. I just can't remember its name."

"Krampus." James said, stopping Peter's laughter. "He takes naughty children away in a sack."

"_In a sack_." Sirius concurred. "It's true."

"You are one of the few people who will be glad to know that it's all an elaborate lie."

"There's a star." Sirius added. "And the sleigh followed if 'wherever it went'."

"Was the sleigh pulled by camels?" Peter asked. "Don't you think it would be more fun..." He added. "If we let Sirius try and do the whole 'Christmas' thing without help?"

"With the demon that eats children?" Lily asked. "I can't believe your mum told you that, Sirius."

"That is only because you've never met his mother." James assured her.

"And yours." Lily reminded him.

"My mother was assuring me that Krampus was a horrible made up Muggle story." James said. "Probably because Sirius had scared the hell out of me."

"Maybe you shouldn't have both been such naughty children." Lily said. "And then you wouldn't have had to worry."

"About being shoved in a sack by big-tongued demon monster?" James clarified. "On Christmas Eve. To be taken away to be eaten."

"It's true." Sirius said again.

"_It's true!_" Peter stifled a laugh. "So _are you_, Remus? Do you have any plans to dress up as Krampus on Christmas Eve? Because I think that might be too scary for Sirius."  
"And for the ward of sick snowed-in children." Lily said. "Can I dress up as an Elf, like Peter?"

"You would have to dress _down_ to be an Elf?" James said, thoughtfully. "To be honest Lily, wrapping a dirty dish cloth about your naked body is never going to convince anyone you're a House Elf, although it would add to the Christmassy atmosphere."

"But you were okay with Peter being an Elf, thinking that that was the costume?" Lily clarifed.

"I'm fine with it." Peter said. "You and me in loin cloths, Lily. Remus as the kid-eating demon monster, and Sirius as a very young beardless Santa, giving out stockings of orange vegetables, from a sleight pulled by camels. It will be a Christmas the sick children will never forget."

.

.

.

"Please can we scrap the reindeer-pulled sleigh idea?" James said, asked, pleaded.

"No." Sirius said. "That is the best thing we have. Remus has a spell to make 'the reindeer's' nose red and glowing."

"It's more of a 'punch' thing, than a 'spell' thing." Remus said, looking up from a tray of enchanted wooden animals. "Did you get the chocolate frogs, James?"  
"Yes and Ever Flavour Beans, and a dozen packs of exploding Snap cards. Peter's wrapping them.

.

"Are we using a spell to make Sirius look like Santa and you like Krampus, Moony?"

"Remus's too tall to be an Elf." Lily said, looking critically at Remus who was nearly as tall as James.

"Remus will be Father Christmas." Sirius said. "Children like him."

"Children like you, Sirius. Everyone likes you." Lily said, surprised. "And it was your idea."

"My idea was to take food and toys to sick snowed-in children." Sirius said. "Not to put on a red suit and stomp around shouting 'Yo Ho Ho!'."

"And a bottle of rum?" Peter asked. "If we're transfiguring someone to look like Father Christmas, I could do it."

.

"Moony's doing it." Sirius said. "Otherwise he hasn't got a part. Unless you know how to transfigure yourself to look like a fat old wizard, Peter?"

"He's half-way there." Remus said.

"No. He's elf-sized." Sirius said. "He's an elf."

"I have already made us elf costumes, Peter." Lily told him. "Want to see?"  
"_I do_!" James said. Lily laughed at him, and whisked Peter out of the room.

.

**AN: If you don't believe Sirius about "Krampus" just go and Google it! I kid you not, neither I nor Mrs. Black made that up!**


	15. The Night Before Christmas

And finally it was the night before Christmas.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave very little light, as three _lumos_ lit wands left gold streaks in the blackness and the Marauders sleigh, and one irritable reindeer, launched itself off Hogwarts Astronomy Tower.

With multiple yells of terror they plunged into the night.

.

In the hospital, the stockings had indeed been hung with care, in the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The staff sipped tea and waited for every child to be lost in dreams of dancing sugar plums, talking uneasily of the reserve electric generators ability to last out the winter of 1977, and the likelihood of a large number of disappointed children the following morning.

.

The clatter on the roof as the Marauders sleigh arrived, sent a cascade of plaster off the ceiling, and two wards of small children sprung out of their beds to see what was the matter.

.

After a brief discussion on the icy fire escape, the Matron escorted a young snow covered Father Christmas, a bauble be-decked reindeer, two red cheeked elves, and one very _very_ excited black dog, down into the hospital.

.

.

The reindeer's nose did glow.

The enchanted wooden animals delighted the children as much as computer games, and the chocolate frogs leapt madly from bed to bed.

Children laughed, spat earwax and vomit flavoured sweets out in shocked surprise, and singed their bed sheets with exploded playing cards.

.

Santa Claus proved suspiciously good at waving his wand and producing exactly what each children asked for from his sack.

The elves managed not to mention Krampas to even the naughtiest of over-excited children.

And the black dog proved surprisingly un-manic when it came to comforting children too ill to leave their beds.

.

When all the children were thoroughly over-stimulated on sugar and Christmas excitement, Santa and his entourage sprang back in their sleigh.

To the reluctant reindeer Santa gave a whistle (and a shove with his boot) and away they all flew, like the down of a thistle,

And half the village heard them yell, as they drove out of sight, "A Happy Marauder Christmas to all and to all a Good-Night!"

.

.

**AN:So that's it. Thank you for reading right to the end and I hope you liked it. Please check out any of my other stories, most of which are also about Sirius, Remus, James, Peter and Lily.**

**And please please leave a review.  
**


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